Our view: On this day of rest, honor labor

By the Editorial Board

Monday

Sep 2, 2019 at 2:00 AM

The forecast predicted a fine late summer day for the Labor Day now unfolding. Many people will picnic or shop on this unofficial last weekend of the summer as they begin to make the mental shift to the months ahead — school, the holidays and, yes, shudder, winter.

On State Street this morning, others will march with flags, banners and chants, wearing T-shirts bearing the titles of their unions — groups of workers who have banded to together to market their labor and skill, their know-how and sweat, to their employers for the fullness of its value. The Labor Day parade will stir and remind us of the labor movement's proud legacy and its present opportunities and challenges.

The Labor Day holiday so many cherish honors the dignity of work and those who wrested such benefits — holidays and weekends, safe working conditions, fair pay — from corporate titans not inclined to bestow them without bitter, even deadly conflict.

The labor movement was not without its flaws or corruption. But organized labor helped to balance inequity, rein in abuse and establish this nation's middle class for union and nonunion workers alike. And the middle class has suffered as union membership and leverage declined amid a changing global economy and decades of deliberate actions taken and policies pursued by business interests and the elected officials they helped place in power.

Even amid the strong economy and low unemployment, a concerning wealth gap widens, where corporate chiefs now make about 250 times the amount of the average employee. How long before the underclass, the two Americas, becomes permanent?

And too many citizens who do work, don't make enough to get by. As Richard Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO notes in his Guest Viewpoint, the United Way of Pennsylvania earlier this year issued a revealing report that revealed a concerning number of "A.L.I.C.E.," that is, asset-limited, income-constrained employed households in Pennsylvania. They make above the poverty level but still struggle to afford basic needs. In Erie County, it found 15 percent of households lived in poverty and 27 percent were "A.L.I.C.E." The numbers were worse in the city of Erie, 24 and 34 percent, respectively.

One strain of thought holds that companies unfettered by bargaining agreements yield the greatest return. That was certainly on display here when not a few derided the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Locals 506 and 618 for striking at Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. The question is the greatest return for whom?

The UE picket line hearkened to an earlier era and featured some rough conduct. But ultimately, the unified push for a better deal from Wabtec paid off for both UE workers and Erie.

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